“I’m walking.”
Then he turned around to face his boy. I braced myself. I was sure he was going to shout.
He didn’t shout.
“You stood her in the sun,” he said.
“She kept me talking fifty-one minutes with a tractor on top of me. You know what she kept me talking about?”
Kyle shook his head.
“You. She asked me your name, and she would not let me quit saying it. She asked what position you played in summer league. She asked what you wanted for Christmas. Every time I shut my eyes, she said, Walt, tell me about Kyle. Tell me about Kyle.”
His voice gave out. He stood there and waited for it to come back.
“You had a father at your graduation because of that woman. And I never told you her name, because I figured it was mine to carry. That’s on me, son. That one’s on me.”
